ANTIGAY HATE MURDERS UP 11% LAST YEAR

Sad news, with a mixed "upside" from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs:

NCAVP documented a 16% decrease in hate violence incidents from 2010 to 2011 but an 11% increase in murder. This year many NCAVP members saw a decline in reports of violence linked to a corresponding increase in murders. “In Detroit, an increase in the severity of violence and particularly murders made it challenging for us to find the capacity to do outreach which can lead to a decrease in reports,” said Nusrat Ventimiglia at Equality Michigan. This increase in murders consumed a great deal of organizational capacity. “NCAVP members across the country have spent a tremendous amount of time and resources responding to murders and the tragic, ongoing suicides of our LGBTQ youth,” said Rebecca Waggoner from OutFront Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The 2011 report also highlights a number of disturbing trends concerning the severity of violence experienced by LGBTQH people. This year’s report shows that LGBTQH youth and young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 years old were 2.41 times as likely to experience physical violence compared to LGBTQH people age 30 and older. As in the case of the murder statistics, transgender people and people of color were more likely to experience physical injury in a hate violence incident. The report found that transgender people were 28% as likely to experience physical violence compared to non-transgender people, and that LGBTQ people of color were two times as likely to experience physical violence compared to those who were not LGBTQ people of color.

The actual number of murders is 30. Of course, the groups realize that many incidents go unreported. They say they are so strained by responding to individual incidents that perhaps some people are discouraged in reaching out for help.

Not good news at the beginning of Gay Pride Month.

See also: TODDLER SINGS ANTIGAY JINGLE IN CHURCH